Investing in Bibb County's Future

Our schools are facing a crisis in teacher retention and recruitment. 


According to School Board Member Henry Ficklin,

“We had 43 teachers leave this school year, and many of them pointed out they were going to another system. That is critical to me — making sure that teachers are paid and that they feel they are valued in our system.”

Bibb County teachers are paid well below the market rate for both our region and the state. We cannot expect to attract or keep high-quality educators when surrounding districts offer significantly higher compensation. Teacher quality is directly tied to student outcomes — this is a community investment we cannot afford to delay.



“if [teachers] don’t get what they need, they are going to go somewhere else where they can get it,”
-Board President Ms. Myrtice C. Johnson

How does Bibb County compare in teacher pay?

Alex II Teacher of the Year Wyatt Major (M.Ed) is a fine example of an outstanding educator. He was recently recognized by FVSU for his achievements. We need to do more for our hard working and well qualified educators like him.

Houston County recently approved a 17% bump giving first-year teachers nearly $51K, almost $7K more than Bibb.



Bibb County’s entry-level teacher pay is about $44,981 (FY25, bachelor’s/0 years). This is well below comparable counties: Houston County offers ~$50.96K, Clarke County (Athens) ~$50.29K. 



Like Bibb, Monroe/Jones/Peach County systems generally start in the mid-$40Ks. However, those counties offer wider pays scales 

which encourages teaches to stay longer and more experienced teachers to take jobs there.

Closing the funding gap

The proposed FY2026 budget currently accounts for many unfunded state mandates, including a $6,000 increase per classified employee in health insurance costs and increases in retirement contributions, technology refresh costs, and student services. The district’s leadership has responsibly trimmed $6 million from other areas, but without raising revenue, this leaves our teachers behind yet again.



With no raises or other changes the district still faces a $17.1 million dollar deficit. Alternatively, a modest 3% raise for teachers and implementing the salary study findings, would leave the district in the hole by over $25 million dollars.

The situation brings us to choose between drastically cutting services and further exacerbating teacher staffing issues or making modest increases in revenue. Issues at Bibb Schools are no secret. Cutting funding to already over worked, over stressed, and under appreciated teachers will not solve any issues.

We must ensure the schools have the resources they need while also holding the district to account for every penny. In uncertain times, we must focus our resources so that they are used wisely.

The Solution:

We should urge the Board to adopt a millage rate increase to fund competitive salaries and balance the budget. 4 mills would bring our property taxes in line with nearby counties and comparable metro districts from around the state. 



Now is NOT the time for deficit spending. With uncertainty surrounding future federal funding, now is the time to build a war chest for a rainy day. The only reasonable way to achieve these goals is with a millage rate increase.

What Is a Millage Rate?



The millage rate (or “mill rate”) is the amount of tax you pay per $1,000 of your property’s assessed value. It’s how local governments — like school districts and counties — calculate property taxes.

If you are like me you are probably wondering what does a 1 mill increase mean to my monthly budget. I'll walk you though how I calculated it for myself. Everyone is going to be a bit different but you can do the same calculations to get a rough estimate.

The bottom line is that for every 1 mill increase, the impact on each resident is very minimal and well worth the investment.

You can look up what the value of any property is on the Bibb County Tax Assessor's website.

You can even see exactly how this is calculated for any property on the Tax Commissioner's website.

1 mill = $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.

In Georgia, a home’s assessed value is typically 40% of its market value.



Lets round up to make the math easier. So, for an example $200,000 home:

$200,000 x .4 = $80,000

Assessed value = $80,000

$80,000 / $1,000 = $80

1 mill = $80 in annual tax, or less than $7 a month.

At 14.674 mills (Bibb’s current school rate) = $1,174 in school taxes a year or less than $100 a month currently.



If your home qualifies for a homestead exemption, your taxable value is reduced, so your actual tax bill would be even lower. There are other exemptions as well, including historical credits, elderly credits, disabled veteran and others. 

Here is a screen shot from my actual tax bill from 2024. With the exemptions the amount is even further reduced to well under $100 a month.

Here are the average (mean) and median values for single-family, owner-occupied homes in Bibb County—excluding the top 5% most expensive properties (i.e., trimming out the highest-value outliers):

• Median Value (ACS 2019–2023): $165,800 Census.gov
  The U.S. Census’s QuickFacts reports that the median (50th-percentile) value of owner-occupied housing units in Bibb County was $165,800 from 2019 through 2023—this already excludes extreme high-end values by focusing on the midpoint of the distribution.
• Mean (Average) Value (Zillow Home Value Index): $166,248 Zillow
  Zillow’s Home Value Index (ZHVI) for Bibb County shows an average single-family home value of $166,248 (as of early 2025), a metric designed to smooth out seasonal and high-end sales, effectively trimming the influence of the most expensive 5% of properties.

How does Bibb County's millage rage compare?

** Houston has a county wide sales tax (LOST) that offsets the education millage rate that other districts don’t have. This is something that was grandfathered in and isn't available to Bibb County School District.

How you can help

Together we will succeed

1. Email the school board and superintendent.

You can find their emails here.

Encourage them to:

1. Implement a base salary increase of at least 5% for all Bibb County teachers

2. Raise the millage rate as necessary to balance the district budget and fund this pay increase responsibly.

2. Share this blog post with as many people as possible.

Email, Facebook, X, bluesky, discord, reddit, you name it, send it.

Contact local media and let them know you also support this effort and ask them to cover the topic more in depth.

3. Sign the petition

Why It Matters

Nothing is more important than our children's futures.



Even a 1-mill increase can provide nearly $6 million in funding for Bibb County Schools — while costing many homeowners less than $10/month. It’s a small local investment with a big impact on teacher salaries, student outcomes, and school stability.



Together, we can ensure that Bibb County School District is successful and Built4Bibb!



Thank you,
-Kerry

Contact me on signal: kerryhatcher.03

Join the discussion below. Post your concerns, questions, and thoughts on this article. I'll do my best to read and respond to as many as possible.